N-alkyl-nitroaniline compounds are well known in the art. Certain of these compounds have been found to be important selective herbicides. By way of illustration, the use of N-sec-butyl-4-tert-butyl-2,6-dinitroaniline as a selective herbicide is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,672,866. The 4-tert-butyl-N-sec-butyl-2,6-dinitroaniline compound and its optically active enantiomorphs are disclosed as useful as herbicides in U.S. Pat. No. 3,991,116. The means of producing the N-butyl-nitroaniline compounds given in the above patents involves the nitration of 4-butylphenol, followed by conversion of the resulting 2,6-dinitrophenol into the chloro-derivative and finally reacting the chloro-derivative with a primary amine to produce the N-butyl-nitroaniline.
The above prior art process is a process that involves the production of a significant amount of chlorinated by-product waste. Consequently, there exists a need for a simpler process of producing N-alkyl-nitroanilines that would eliminate the requirement of disposal of chlorinated waste.